Modern Times Gaming

The deal between MTG and Turtle is worth 78 mln. Euros and is the first in which the media company acquired a majority stake in the organization dealing with electronic sports. “E-sports are fast becoming one of the fastest growing categories and watched sport among young audiences,” said Jorgen Madsen Lindemans, CEO of MTG, quoted by Engadget. “In the world there are almost as many gamers as traditional sports fans – here as electronic sports are already bigger than hockey. However, the average e-sports enthusiast has spent less than $ 2 in 2014 for his hobby, while sport fans gave an average of $ 56. Here lies the potential of this category, “he said.

Analysts from Morgan Stanley, who follow the business of Modern Times Group, said on the occasion of the transaction, it is in line with the business plan of the media company to diversify its content and focus on the digital environment. This is due to declining consumption of TV products, which experienced the strongest in the Nordic countries and less in the rest of the world. According to Morgan Stanley MTG Turtle expect to attract revenues of 50 million. Euros in 2015, an increase of 50% compared to 2014

“Our partnership with MTG is just one of the steps that will do to move ourselves as a company, and e-sports as a whole forward,” he told the “Capital” Ralph Reyhert, CEO of Turtle Entertainment GmbH. “In the face of MTG we have found an investor who has the same passion as ours, which made the deal the most logical solution,” he said. Himself ESL, founded in 2000 in Germany, the organization is in the heart of the eSports. The company organizes tournaments with professional players some of the most popular games, including Battlefield 4, Halo, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, StarCraft 2, Mortal Kombat and Hearthstone. The largest was held in March 2015 tournament ESL One Katowice. It took account of 150% increase in viewing figures compared with the previous edition large ESL One Cologne and reached over 1 million. Viewers. Only in geymstriyming platform Twitch (acquired by Amazon for 970 mln. USD) Tournament finals were watched by nearly 861 thousand. People. According to data cited by eslgaming.com, matches of the event have reached nearly 8.7 million. People.

MTG’s deal with Turtle is not the first example of the interest of the media company in the category of electronic sports. American sports channel ESPN sponsored event held in April Heroes of the Dorm, organized by Blizzard – the company, a manufacturer of some of the most popular racing games. The finals of the event were broadcast as the online platform of television and on ESPN2. The matches were passed in the wee hours of the night, which partially explains the low viewership – the show got only 0.1 of rating measurements, which equates to roughly 100,000 people. Despite growing audience and popularity e-sports are still a niche category. According to Ralph Reyhert of Turtle however e-sports market has yet to awaken the interest of the media. “I think that cooperation between sports organizations and electronic media companies is beneficial for both parties: we can learn much from traditional media, and they need us,” he says and adds: “I hope that our partnership was with MTG will enable us in the future to organize their events more extensive level. “